The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry signed today a series of ordinances regarding 382 applications for incentives to the agricultural and forestry modernisation in the Azores, corresponding to a global investment of 300 thousand Euros.
 
As for the applications, 37 were submitted the defunct Support Programme for Agricultural Modernisation (PROAMA) and 345 were submitted under the Support Program for Agricultural and Forest Modernisation (PROAMAF).
 
In 2017, about 1 million Euros were paid to 1,269 applications.
 
PROAMAF is designed to allocate incentives to farmers who wish to invest in equipment, innovation and in electricity and water supply for their farms, improving working and production conditions.
 
Eligible equipment and operations include the purchase of mobile mangers, automatic washing machines for milking machines, solar panels, agricultural management software or milk tanks, among others.
 
According to the new rules, whose order was published in May in the Official Journal, farmers and forest producers who wish to benefit from PROAMAF funds must have gross income of5,000 Euros from agricultural activity in the calendar year prior the submission of the application.
 
Instead of support, farmers are starting to apply to an incentive in order to avoid the so-called "Minimis Rule," which prevents a producer from benefiting from state aid over 15 thousand Euros for three consecutive years.
 
This was one of the claims made by the sector to which the Regional Government has responded.
 
The submission of applications for PROAMAF runs on an annual basis from January to November; each beneficiary may submit only one application per year.